OPENING TIPS UC Davis will seek its third win in the last four games played against the Cal State Northridge Matadors when the two meet inside The Matadome Thursday evening. A split of the season series has taken place during the last three years with each team defeating the other on their respective home floors. The Aggies have dropped their last eight games played against CSUN in Northridge, a victory will be the Aggies' first in the Valley since Nov. 22, 1986, when both teams competed at the D-II level.

The Aggies will end their upcoming road swing with a quick trip to Honolulu for its first-ever Big West game against the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors. Last season, the team flew to the islands for the first time in the program's history to face a Hawai'i team that finished that head-to-head matchup with a 23-5 run to defeat UC Davis 74-61.

LISTEN LIVE TO UC DAVIS MEN'S BASKETBALLFor the second year, all UC Davis men's basketball games will be aired on KSAC (105.5 FM). Pregame begins 30 minutes before tip-off, Scott Marsh (@scottmarsh1140) will call the play-by-play with Bill Herenda (@billherenda) providing analysis for most contests this season. All games will also be streamed free of charge at ucdavisaggies.com.

FOLLOW ALONG WITH LIVE STATSLive stats are available for all home and most UC Davis road games by visiting ucdavisaggies.com. Media are advised to select "Media View" on Gametracker as stats updated the quickest on this medium when covering home games.

AGGIE SPORTS UPDATEUC Davis Athletics, in partnership with KSAC (105.5 FM) in Sacramento, debuted "Aggie Sports Update" on Dec. 4. A weekly radio show featuring interviews with coaches and student-athletes, updates on all 23 varsity teams and opportunities to win tickets and prizes, the 30-minute show is hosted by longtime Aggie broadcaster Scott Marsh (with KSAC Sports Director Phil Getman also taking the microphone from time to time) and will air every Tuesday, at 6:30 p.m. Besides airing on KSAC, "Aggie Sports Update" will stream live on UC Davis' official athletics website, www.ucdavisaggies.com.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!Season and single-game tickets for Aggie home games can be purchased through the "Tickets" link at www.ucdavisaggies.com, in person at the UC Davis Ticket Office, or by calling the ticket office at (530) 752-1915.

MEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA GUIDEMedia, UC Davis men's basketball fans and anyone else that is interested in learning more about the team can download the 2012-13 media guide in PDF format at the men's basketball homepage on ucdavisaggies.com.

MARCH TO 1,000Competing in its 101st season, the UC Davis men's basketball program inches itself towards the 1,000-victory milestone with every win accumulated this season. Entering the 2012-13 campaign with 990 wins, the Aggies need five more victories to accomplish this feat.

HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTIONLast season, head coach Jim Les' first at the helm of the men's basketball program, the Aggies won five of their 31 games played. This year, UC Davis earned its fifth victory 14 games into the season, and could have done so even sooner if the Aggies were not on the wrong side of an overtime decision at UC Irvine, or suffered a heartbreaking last-second loss at Nevada.

TOP-TEN ALL-TIME TOTALSJunior guard Ryan Sypkens and junior swingman Josh Ritchart are amongst the top-ten active Big West career scoring leaders this season as of Jan. 15, 2013. Ranked No. 6 with 729 points scored throughout his time at UC Davis, Sypkens sits two spots ahead of teammate Ritchart who occupies the No. 8 slot with 708 points.

HE'S ALSO ON THE LISTRyan Howley is another Aggie who is one of the all-time Big West leaders in rebounding as the senior guard is No. 3 amongst all active players in the conference with 394 career rebounds as of Jan. 15.

RECORD BREAKERSenior guard Ryan Howley set two new tournament records during UC Davis' tenure at the World Vision Challenge in Logan, Utah. Just two days after setting a single-game rebounding record with 15 boards earned vs. Southern Illinois (12/20/12), Howley grabbed 11 rebounds against Nicholls State (12/22/12) to finish with a total of 38 rebounds, shattering the tournament's the previous mark of 33.

HOME SWEET HOME... WHILE IT LASTEDUC Davis ended its season-long three-game homestand last Saturday evening against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. The third home game held at The Pavilion within an eight-day timespan, UC Davis competed in as many home games throughout the months of November and December combined. Of the 30 games on the Aggies' schedule this season, 13 will take place in Davis.

SCOUTING CAL STATE NORTHRIDGEIt has been a tale of two seasons for the Cal State Northridge Matadors; starting its season with six straight wins, the Matadors posted a 9-3 non-conference mark highlighted by a five-point win at Utah. Since facing the Utes on Dec. 21, Cal State Northridge lost its last four games played, all against Big West competition.

Which CSUN team UC Davis will face will depend on the performance of sophomore guards Stephan Hicks, Josh Greene and sophomore forward Stephen Maxwell - the Matadors' top-three scorers. Hicks leads his team in scoring (18.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg), Maxwell is ranked No. 2 in both categories (12.9 ppg/7.8 ppg), with Greene averaging 12.8 ppg. In addition to seeking its first Big West win, CSUN will look to earn its first win over a Division I team since defeating Eastern Washington on Nov. 12, 2012.

SCOUTING HAWAI'IThe Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors will face the Pacific Tigers Thursday evening before closing their brief two-game homestand against UC Davis. Following their game against the Aggies, the Rainbow Warriors will visit Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton within a nine-day timespan before returning to the islands.

Led by junior forward Christian Standhardinger (14.9 ppg/7.7 rpg) and senior center Vander Joaquim (14.3 ppg/8.5 rpg), Hawai'i has enjoyed a high level of success inside the Stan Sheriff Center this season. Of the nine wins recorded by the Rainbow Warriors, eight have taken place on their home court, with the ninth recorded in nearby Ho'olehua, Molokai, against Chaminade. Hawai'i is still seeking its first road victory since joining the conference as the team lost its only non-conference road game earlier this season at UNLV, and dropped its inaugural Big West road contests at UC Irvine and Long Beach State last week.

AGGIES STUN CAL POLY, SET SEASON HIGHIn its Jan. 10 Big West home game against Cal Poly, the Aggies erased a 16-point deficit and ended their evening on sophomore guard Corey Hawkins' buzzer-beating, game-winning shot to hand the first-place Mustangs their first Big West loss of the season. In that game, UC Davis shot 26-for-43 from the field to set a new season-high with its .605 field goal percentage. Ironically, UC Davis' 43 field goal attempts are fewest recorded by the Aggies in a single game this year.

FIRE AWAY!Ryan Sypkens is ranked No. 9 in the nation with his .487 three-point percentage, and is No. 8 with 3.67 three-point field goals made per game -- a mark that also doubles as the Big West's top figure. Sypkens also enters UC Davis' game against UCSB ranked No. 11 in the conference in scoring at 14.3 ppg.

CALL HIM MR. WINDEXNot only does Ryan Howley possess the second-highest rebounding average in the conference (8.9 rpg), the senior guard also leads all Big West players with 7.2 defensive rebounds per game. Howley's 8.9 total rpg average is also the 57th-highest in the country.

PICK YOUR POISONSophomore guard Corey Hawkins currently possesses the top free-throw percentage in the Big West, his .909 success rate at the line is also the 14th-highest in the nation. In addition to being ranked No. 4 in the Big West/No. 51 nationwide in scoring at 18.0 ppg, Hawkins is also No. 8 in the Big West in steals (1.4).

EXCEPTIONALLY EFFICIENTJ.T. Adenrele is another Aggie that sits near the top of a statistical category as the sophomore forward enters Thursday's Big West contest ranked No. 2 in the conference with his .571 field-goal percentage and No. 4 in blocks averaging 1.4 per game.

OPPONENTS BEWARETyler Les is another Aggie sharpshooter that is dangerous from behind the arc as the junior guard's .419 three-point field goal percentage is the ninth-highest mark in the conference.

THE PERFECT SETUPRanked No. 10 with his 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio amongst all Big West players, senior guard Paolo Mancasola completes the list of Aggies who are turning in top-10 performances on a consistent basis for head coach Jim Les.

NEW YEAR, NEW RESULTEnding the 2011-12 season ranked last with its -5.7 rebounding margin, UC Davis has improved its performance underneath the basket throughout the 2012-13 season and enters Thursday's game ranked No. 7 with a +0.6 margin.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBERIn his first appearance in UC Davis' starting lineup, freshman guard Olivier-Paul Betu ended finished with five points on two field goals, two assists, and recorded his first three-point basket and steal as an Aggie.

RITCHART REIGNS AT IRVINEJunior swingman Josh Ritchart tied/set four new season highs when UC Davis visited the Bren Events Center for its Big West opener on Dec. 29, 2012. Ritchart set two new season bests by scoring 15 points on six field goals, and tied another two by recording seven rebounds and draining three three-pointers for the third time this year.

ALL-TOURNAMENT ACCOLADES FOR HAWKINSThroughout the three-game World Vision Classic in Logan, Utah, sophomore guard Corey Hawkins averaged 16.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 4.0 apg to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Hawkins also led the team in scoring with 20 points against Southern Illinois (12/20/12).

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE AREN'T FREEUC Davis minimized the number of extra Eastern Washington possessions by brilliantly making the most of its possessions on offense. The Aggies did not commit a turnover throughout the final 22:37 of action against the Eagles on Dec. 17. In that game UC Davis only committed a total of four turnovers.